Grand Dining Room

[stevesol6718]

Anyone else notice that the food has just not been as good in the main dining rooms?  Just got off a 39 day cruise on Marina and found that the quality has declined, the taste is not the same, the food is served cold and the portion size has decreased.  We had a steak that we could not cut, chicken Kiev that could not be sliced into, every soup served cold, every egg at breakfast served overdone and cold.  We were forced to eat in the Terrace for breakfast to get a properly cooked egg. Very disappointing!

[EJL2023]

13 minutes ago, stevesol6718 said:

Anyone else notice that the food has just not been as good in the main dining rooms?  Just got off a 39 day cruise on Marina and found that the quality has declined, the taste is not the same, the food is served cold and the portion size has decreased.  We had a steak that we could not cut, chicken Kiev that could not be sliced into, every soup served cold, every egg at breakfast served overdone and cold.  We were forced to eat in the Terrace for breakfast to get a properly cooked egg. Very disappointing!

Nope, didn’t notice this except for perhaps a bit smaller portions, which I think is actually good. 

Edited February 5 by EJL2023

[RPen63]

24 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

Nope, didn’t notice this except for perhaps a bit smaller portions, which I think is actually good. 

+1

[ORV]

Nope, haven’t noticed this at all. When did you get off?

[osandomir]

49 minutes ago, stevesol6718 said:

every egg at breakfast served overdone and cold.  We were forced to eat in the Terrace for breakfast to get a properly cooked egg. Very disappointing!

We try to eat breakfast in the GDR as much as possible. I’m very specific how I order the eggs so most of the time they come out properly cooked.

[Mrs f.]

We have never been fond of the MDR food.  If we don't have specialty, we usually go to Terrace cafe

[shepherd really]

1 hour ago, stevesol6718 said:

Anyone else notice that the food has just not been as good in the main dining rooms?  Just got off a 39 day cruise on Marina and found that the quality has declined, the taste is not the same, the food is served cold and the portion size has decreased.  We had a steak that we could not cut, chicken Kiev that could not be sliced into, every soup served cold, every egg at breakfast served overdone and cold.  We were forced to eat in the Terrace for breakfast to get a properly cooked egg. Very disappointing!

Nope, but it reminds me of a joke told in the Catskills about a woman who complained about her food, how awful it was, how poorly prepared and seasoned.

 

She ended with "and the portions were so small".

 

 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, shepherd really said:

Nope, but it reminds me of a joke told in the Catskills about a woman who complained about her food, how awful it was, how poorly prepared and seasoned.

 

She ended with "and the portions were so small".

 

 

Woody Allen opens the movie Annie Hall with that joke.

[shepherd really]

17 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Woody Allen opens the movie Annie Hall with that joke.

He was a regular at the Nevele, every comedian that played there told that same joke.  I'm sure they were telling it back in the 20's and '30, in both English and Yiddish.

Edited February 5 by shepherd really

[njhorseman]

59 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

He was a regular at the Nevele, every comedian that played there told that same joke.  I'm sure they were telling it back in the 20's and '30, in both English and Yiddish.

I have no doubt that it predates the movie.

I know far more than I care to about the Nevele.  My parents honeymooned there in 1945 and decided it would be a great idea to return fir for their 50th wedding anniversary..."treating" their children and their families to a weekend there. I think we outnumbered the other guests staying there that weekend. 

[Sthrngary]

5 hours ago, stevesol6718 said:

Anyone else notice that the food has just not been as good in the main dining rooms?  Just got off a 39 day cruise on Marina and found that the quality has declined, the taste is not the same, the food is served cold and the portion size has decreased.  We had a steak that we could not cut, chicken Kiev that could not be sliced into, every soup served cold, every egg at breakfast served overdone and cold.  We were forced to eat in the Terrace for breakfast to get a properly cooked egg. Very disappointing!

@stevesol6718 My wife and best friends just got off the Riviera on November of 2023. It was our first cruise on Oceania and our friends first cruise ever.  With regards to main dining rooms, I was a fan of them 44 years ago when we first stated to cruise.  Over the years, all of them in my mind have gone down.  

 

I usually travel NCL Haven and the Celebrity retreat which has "Suite Only" Dining rooms.  When I have gone in a normal stateroom on NCL and Celebrity, I rarely go into the Main Dining Room because I like you tend to be disappointed.  

 

For my last experience in November, I eat in the Grand Dining Room every morning for breakfast and each and every meal exceeded my expectation.  The service was also great.  Now lunch we had once and it was below average.  Dinner we had one and it as average at best but the service was very good.  

 

There were so many choice for food, we never went hungry nor did we lack for something very nice to eat.  For us, it was all in the selection.  That was my feedback which I think you were asking for.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[cayman09]

Just off Sirena and the food in the dining room was very good to excellent. We regularly commented on how hot it was when served.

[DENIE]

We are just off Vista a couple weeks ago.  We had dinner in the MDR twice, and it was very good both times. No complaints.  We also had breakfast there twice and I remember it was also very good. Didn't always like some of the menus on given nights, so made other arrangements.  Overall no complaints from us.

[julmops]

I wonder if this couldn't come from the fact that you've been eating this food for well over a month and maybe repetition doesn't make things as exciting as they were to start with ?

Obviously it doesn't excuse the badly cooked steak or the other examples you provided but I'm sure it must have an effect on your general opinion of the MDR at the end of the cruise ...

[Harters]

We enjoyed the GDR on Nautica last summer. The room has a nice atmosphere that we didnt feel in the other dining spaces. Yes, the service was inconsistent (breakfast service was just weird), the menu a bit repetitive over the ten days (although we always found something to enjoy) and portions a bit small (but ordering a couple of sides solved that issue, or ordering cheese as well as a dessert). We ate well enough, although the "finest cuisine at sea" is surely marketing puffery (although I don't have other lines to compare with) 

[stevesol6718]

I knew that my comment would cause an uproar!.  The cruise we just were on was the 39 day Marina to Buenos Aires. We have been cruising with Oceania since 2008, so I feel that we are qualified to make a meaningful comment.  This was not a complaint, merely an observation.  All the other food venues are great!.  The past few years we have noticed that the Grand Dining Room food has not been up to past cruises, and that is our opinion. Not sour grapes. For most of you who have not sailed on Oceania for several years, you probably do not notice the changes that have been made since NCL took over.  They are subtle, but nevertheless, they have changed the "original" Oceania.  The food in the Grand Dining Room has definitely declined. It is not the same.  The quality is not the same.  The operation is not the same and the meals are more like NCL than Oceania.  Again, this is my opinion and you can "make jokes", criticize etc.  This is a forum in which topics are to be discussed and opinions to be offered, not to attack people.  We all have different ideas and no one is more right than the other.  So if a topic is started on this site, please stick to the issue which was "Has the Food in the Grand Dining Room Changed."

[Harters]

16 minutes ago, stevesol6718 said:

"Has the Food in the Grand Dining Room Changed."

I commented upthread about our Nautica GDR experience last summer. It's difficult to remember details when there's a gap of several years but I have sense that, with our 2017 cruise on Marina, the GDR was better. Maybe not dramatically different but I've checked my personal diary for that trip and didnt make the same adverse comments then. 

[Vallesan]

55 minutes ago, stevesol6718 said:

I knew that my comment would cause an uproar!.  The cruise we just were on was the 39 day Marina to Buenos Aires. We have been cruising with Oceania since 2008, so I feel that we are qualified to make a meaningful comment.  This was not a complaint, merely an observation.  All the other food venues are great!.  The past few years we have noticed that the Grand Dining Room food has not been up to past cruises, and that is our opinion. Not sour grapes. For most of you who have not sailed on Oceania for several years, you probably do not notice the changes that have been made since NCL took over.  They are subtle, but nevertheless, they have changed the "original" Oceania.  The food in the Grand Dining Room has definitely declined. It is not the same.  The quality is not the same.  The operation is not the same and the meals are more like NCL than Oceania.  Again, this is my opinion and you can "make jokes", criticize etc.  This is a forum in which topics are to be discussed and opinions to be offered, not to attack people.  We all have different ideas and no one is more right than the other.  So if a topic is started on this site, please stick to the issue which was "Has the Food in the Grand Dining Room Changed."

I have to agree with you.

 

We’ve only been sailing with Oceania since 2015 but have never sailed NCL so can’t compare. We sailed on the Nautica in summer 2022, Riviera autumn 2022 and Sirena February 2023. I can’t remember on which cruise it was that I noticed this, but I found quite a marked difference in the GDR menus from times past.

 

The menu seems to have shrunk to the point where some nights I found it difficult to find something I fancied. (I never went hungry!) As usual there were the three, what I call standbys when all else fails, steak, chicken and salmon. I have tried the chicken and the salmon several times and have not been at all impressed with either. I think that there was a vegetarian dish and a vegan main dish every night plus, correct me if I’m wrong,  maybe four or possibly even only three other choices of mains. I’m not a meat lover but do enjoy fish and chicken so the choice seemed even smaller.

 

I was aware that portions were smaller but I saw that as a positive. Yes, there are differences in the GDR post 2020 but, as you say, the other venues are good. I have more Oceania cruises booked this year so the changes are not enough to stop me sailing with Oceania again.

 

As a P.S. Seabourn is also not quite as it was before 2020 so I don’t think this is an Oceania only issue, I think it’s right across the whole industry. I think we have to accept the ‘now’ , and can only compare line by line today not pre 2020.
 

 

Edited February 6 by Vallesan

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, stevesol6718 said:

For most of you who have not sailed on Oceania for several years, you probably do not notice the changes that have been made since NCL took over

Explaining changes by blaming them on an NCL takeover flies in the face of the facts. While Oceania did become part of NCLH, it has always been run by Oceania executives and in fact NCLH itself has almost exclusively been run by Oceania executives since absorbing Oceania.

 

Except for a very brief time immediately after Oceania's becoming part of NCLH, NCLH has been headed by Oceania executives. First, Frank Del Rio, the founder of Oceania and now Harry Sommer, who was a long-time key executive under FDR. In fact FDR put Sommer in charge of NCL before Sommer ultimately took over the CEO's office at NCLH...so NCL was actually run by an Oceania executive, not the other way around. 

 

Any cuts in service you may see are a reality of post COVID-19 financial struggles. NCLH, as well as Carnival and Royal Caribbean, accumulated billions in high interest rate debt during the COVID shutdown. That debt has to be paid down, and in order to do so cruise lines have both increased fares and made cuts in service. Read the Cruise Critic boards for almost every other cruise line and you'll see the same complaints about higher fares and a degraded product being voiced.

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, stevesol6718 said:

The food in the Grand Dining Room has definitely declined. It is not the same.  The quality is not the same.  The operation is not the same and the meals are more like NCL than Oceania. 

 

While I have not yet become a "long-term" Oceania cruiser, I cruised with O twice in 2023 (once in August and once in late December/early Jan 2024), so my experience is fairly recent and each cruise was about 2.5 weeks.

 

Some things you mention are subjective, of course, but others are objective and those I feel I can address. I did not experience food being served at the incorrect temperature. I ate breakfast in the GDR every day except a handful when I had an early excursion (not a fan of buffet meals). I ordered Eggs Benedict on the majority of those days and I was usually asked how I wanted my eggs. They were never cold, and only once did I receive my order with the eggs cooked incorrectly. I don't know how they could do it much better....

 

I also never experienced cold soups (unless they were meant to be) or meat that could not be cut.

 

I do have to say that I think we had one of the best chefs on the line on Insignia (both cruises); he was also going on the ATW cruise that started just after I departed the ship in January.

 

If you think the food on O is like NCL, all I can suggest is that maybe it's time you gave NCL another try. I would predict you'd find a big difference in a very short time....

 

 

[stevesol6718]

Lucky you!!!

[Vallesan]

 

 

 

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

 

Any cuts in service you may see are a reality of post COVID-19 financial struggles. NCLH, as well as Carnival and Royal Caribbean, accumulated billions in high interest rate debt during the COVID shutdown. That debt has to be paid down, and in order to do so cruise lines have both increased fares and made cuts in service. Read the Cruise Critic boards for almost every other cruise line and you'll see the same complaints about higher fares and a degraded product being voiced.

I think you are absolutely right.

 

In my opinion the days of old, are just that. Prices have risen across the board and services have been reduced, as have the perks on some lines. I think you have assess what a cruise is ‘worth’ to you. I know what I’m prepared to pay  and I know my ceiling.

 

i still like Oceania’s policy of price matching. I like their sales. I like their cancellation policy of just £150 pp initially. I always thought it was odd that Oceania had such a liberal cancellation policy compared with other lines.

 

I like Silversea but I don’t like their cancellation policy on their Port to Port fares which I would book when travelling to Europe. Flights to Europe are normally between 2 & 4 hours and Silversea prices are really crazy. BUT, book P2P and if prices go down tough! They won’t honour them. Deposits non refundable and if you have a prepay P2P fare if you cancel. All makes Oceania still look pretty good.

 

So really at the end of the day it’s not only the bottom line but the terms and conditions, which some people don’t read, that need to be taken into consideration.

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, julmops said:

I wonder if this couldn't come from the fact that you've been eating this food for well over a month and maybe repetition doesn't make things as exciting as they were to start with ?

Obviously it doesn't excuse the badly cooked steak or the other examples you provided but I'm sure it must have an effect on your general opinion of the MDR at the end of the cruise ...

 

I appreciate your comments.   We will not be sailing Oceania for the first time until September.   One of the main reason we are looking for different cruise lines is after 23 years with Celebrity we find much of the same as you describe in Luminae (their Suites Only Dining Room).  

 

I've found that it often depends on the Chef.    We were on on cruise and every Fish and Chicken dish was like eating road kill.   The MD would even go back and supervise the chef a couple nights and the Chicken was perfect but then returned to road kill.  The second cruise of a B2B that chef left the ship and his replacement delivered every dish to perfection.  

[daydreamer62]

3 hours ago, stevesol6718 said:

I knew that my comment would cause an uproar!.  The cruise we just were on was the 39 day Marina to Buenos Aires. We have been cruising with Oceania since 2008, so I feel that we are qualified to make a meaningful comment.  This was not a complaint, merely an observation.  All the other food venues are great!.  The past few years we have noticed that the Grand Dining Room food has not been up to past cruises, and that is our opinion. Not sour grapes. For most of you who have not sailed on Oceania for several years, you probably do not notice the changes that have been made since NCL took over.  They are subtle, but nevertheless, they have changed the "original" Oceania.  The food in the Grand Dining Room has definitely declined. It is not the same.  The quality is not the same.  The operation is not the same and the meals are more like NCL than Oceania.  Again, this is my opinion and you can "make jokes", criticize etc.  This is a forum in which topics are to be discussed and opinions to be offered, not to attack people.  We all have different ideas and no one is more right than the other.  So if a topic is started on this site, please stick to the issue which was "Has the Food in the Grand Dining Room Changed."

There's very little in the world that hasn't changed since 2008 . Id be surprising to find something that's the same as it was 16 years ago. The changes are greater since the pandemic especially in the service industry.. everywhere in the world....  I think though that the responses to this post and for that matter your previous one on exactly the same subject from last year show that Oceanias changes and or deteriorations aren't as noticeable to some as others. 

I can't comment, having not yet sailed but it would be unreasonable of me to not expect changes on any line that I have sailed with before should I go again. 

It seems to me though based on responses here and in your previous post on the same subject thar many aren't experiencing as many deteriorations as you are at thats good news for those of us looking forward to our first experience.

 

 

Edited February 6 by daydreamer62

[stevesol6718]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I appreciate your comments.   We will not be sailing Oceania for the first time until September.   One of the main reason we are looking for different cruise lines is after 23 years with Celebrity we find much of the same as you describe in Luminae (their Suites Only Dining Room).  

 

I've found that it often depends on the Chef.    We were on on cruise and every Fish and Chicken dish was like eating road kill.   The MD would even go back and supervise the chef a couple nights and the Chicken was perfect but then returned to road kill.  The second cruise of a B2B that chef left the ship and his replacement delivered every dish to perfection.  

This is a very good point and I will bring up something that I really did not want to do initially.  Last year we were on the Nautica and Toscana just was not as great as it usually is.  The chef from Toscana on that cruise was made the head chef of the Grand Dining Room on Marina on this past cruise. So it is possible that the new head chef on Marina has had a direct influence on the food, service etc. on the Marina.